If you have 110-130 item level gear you will probably be holding onto those for a while, they will not be immediately topped by level 51 gear. i130 expected to last until about 56.

All 51+ abilities will be obtained through quests and it will be more often than every five levels as it had been for 30-50. Enough new abilities to create new rotations as well as trait/patch changes to existing abilities.

Black Mage and Summoner but especially Summoner were mentioned as being changed in a big way through their new skills.

New Jobs will not have level 50 relic weapons, the current relics will get a decrease in the time/effort it takes to get them since they will only be around for glamours after the level increase. They will have Primal weapons.

The old gear will just get stat adjustments to accommodate them and then later split off like they did with Monk gear getting Dexterity for Ninja until the split with Poetics and Dreadwyrm armors.

There will be a dark knight mount like there is a paladin and warrior mount.

Main stats for the jobs will be revealed with the May Live Letter( to be broadcast from France some time in the middle of the month).

Increased Retainer Capicty and ability to hire on more retainers

Company Chocobo Rank cap increase.

Practice Modes for raids, these let you go into a specific phase of a raid and try it out.

Draught Chocobo and wedding chocobo will be able to fly.

3.1 Gold Saucer additions besides adding more triad cards.

3.1 will also add the first part of the new 24 man raid series and it is not the Floating Continent, that is a zone.

Stuff in the works-Party TP in the HUDWindows to Mac UI save transfer optionsProperty sharing between spousesUI customizations involving the buff and debuff icons for both you and enemiesSolo/duo dungeons that don't level sync you? That one wasn't clear, it's been brought up by Yoshi-P before though.

Famitsu interview, translation courtesy of people of the bluegartr forums.

Commentary on Building the World

On April 25 and 26, 2015, Final Fantasy XIV was exhibited at Niconico Super Conference 2015 held at Chiba Makuhari Messe. As one of the stage events about Heavensward prior to it's June 23 release, the staff in charge of world setting came to the stage. They described the city-state of Ishgard which will be the centerpiece of the expansion.

At the stage event where the world setting team discussed Ishgard, appearing on stage were FFXIV main scenario writer Kazutoyo Maehiro, Banri Oda, in charge of world lore, and localization lead Michael-Christopher Koji Fox. These are some of the people behind the mystery-filled stories of FFXIV, so in speaking about the creation of Eorzea, they explained some basic facts which will help to enjoy the story of Heavensward more thoroughly.

The theme of the talk was the city-state of Ishgard and its surrounding area which will become the stage for a new adventure. They began with commentary on the recently published walkthrough videos discussing the story and features of the city and field areas. The information is introduced in a digest below. Note that there are likely to be other new areas introduced in Heavensward, so this is not an all-inclusive list.

New Area Commentary 1: Imperial Capital Ishgard

When you first begin Heavensward, the city-state is the first location you'll visit. While they have long refused a relationship with the other nations, because the situation has suddenly changed, adventurers have been granted permission to enter the imperial capital. The city is divided into a lower and upper area - the lower area is where the ordinary citizens live, and it will have a grim atmosphere with the impact of the war evident. The upper area is filled with the nobility of Ishgard, and the effects of war won't be seen on the majestic buildings that point skyward. As followers of the war god Halone, the Ishgard Orthodoxy and its churches and cathedrals are found there. The hero's statues will also be here, with the myth of the twelve knights talked about in the story more than before.

Six years have already passed (since the announcement of the city of Ishgard). The setting of the imperial capital was present since the era of old FFXIV, but it does not look the same as it did back then. Actually, they had previously prepared classes like duelists and shepherds. (Koji Fox)

Although it wasn't implemented as a class, we created kind of a "dueling court" based on the duelist class. We're taking advantage of the Heavensward setting to bring in some elements like those which never saw the light of day. (Oda)

You'll be able to see the impacts of the dragon attacks on the lower section, which will emphasize that the country is at war. (Oda)

On the other hand, since the upper section is home to the nobility, it will be lined with glittering buildings. (Maehiro)

The civilians of Ishgard are obedient to the orthodoxy which has the power. The high ranking people are affiliated with the religion and the cathedral. (Oda)

New Area Commentary 2: Coerthas Western Highlands

This will be an area filled with ice as far as the eye can see. This region previously appeared in the original FFXIV as a green meadow, but it was changed completely by the seventh Calamity caused by Bahamut and isolated by ice. Nostalgic locations from the original FFXIV like Camp Riversmeet and Falcon's Nest will return, and you'll also see the remnants of the old Aetheryte that was there.

The road leading to Coerthas Western Highlands can already be seen somewhere in Snowcloak. (Oda)

Coerthas Western Highlands was the first area considered for new locations in Heavensward. During production the team got excited and created more content than expected, it was originally only supposed to be about half of what it is. (Koji Fox)

New Area Commentary 3: Dravania Highlands and Dravania Lowlands

The Dravania Highlands are filled with lush jungle trees. This place is located further west than the Coerthas Western Highlands. The tallest mountain in Eorzea is also located here, called [[something like "Som Al"]]. Note that this name is from the dragon language. The new Gnath beast tribe calls this area their home.

I made up the dragon language six years ago. Since the dragons have been alive for thousands to tens of thousands of years, we were focused on how their language would change in its history. We decided that they would not have long words, so each word is derived from one of 10-20 shorter patterns. Another idea behind the dragon language is that the past and present tense are the same because of their long history. (Koji Fox)

The Dravania Lowlands are a field area with large amounts of water. Water flows down from the mountains to form a river that runs centrally through the area. In many areas there are ruins of the ancient cities of Sharlayan.

Since the people of Sharlayan were focused on wisdom and philosophy, the naming conventions were made with Greek archetypes in mind. (Koji Fox)

The architecture was also designed with Greek styles in mind. The dragons have not come to the areas where the people of Sharlayan once lived. (Oda)

New Area Commentary 4: Dravania Sea of Clouds

Above the high towering mountains of Dravania Highlands is the world of the heavens. The reasons that you'll find areas like ruins in a place like this are a major part of the story. It's a dangerous area inhabited by countless dragons.

It might be said that this is really the base for the dragons. (Maehiro)

The seven major [["Tenryu"]] heavens' dragons will become heavily involved in the story that starts with Heavensward. (Maehiro)

Our first introduction to the dragon world was with Midgardsormr. The seven major heavens dragons are his children, and have great power. Nidhogg is one of the seven heavens dragons which has already been involved in the job quests for dragoon. In addition to Nidhogg, the other six will become involved during the story. (Oda)

The Au Ra group is made with the image of the devil. Their designs are inspired by demons, not dragons. Because of this, even though they have a similar appearance to dragons, they won't be especially persecuted by city residents. (Oda)

New Are Commentary 5: Abalathia Sea of Clouds

Abalathia is a rural area located to the east of Ishgard. As you can tell from the name Sea of Clouds, it's also a field area floating in the sky. Since there will be great differences in altitude in this location, there will be many locations that you'll need a flying mount to reach.

The new Vanu Vanu beast tribe lives in the Abalathia Sea of Clouds. (Maehiro)

When we create new field areas, the lore group proposes landmark buildings which would be found in the area. The background area creation team is responsible for creating those ideas. Since the lore team doesn't instruct much beyond that to the BG team, we're often amazed by the end product. For that reason, taking inspiration from the end product of the BG team, we incorporate new elements into the story. (Oda)

New Area Commentary 6: ???

For the last area discussed, just one photo was shown.

This is a magic continent (laughs). This will also be a large field area, and tough adventures will happen here. (Maehiro)

When we went through naming the locations in this area, we somehow got into a lot of detail about genetic recombination technology. (laughs) (Koji Fox)

This was one of the things that we decided to not show in the benchmark software we're releasing on April 27. By the time we had everything adjusted, it was already complete. (Maehiro)

Here, Maehiro released a video of a new instanced dungeon called the Gubra Library of Illusions.

During some of the dialogue in the main quest of patch 2.4, Y'shtola references that a particular matter may require further investigation in the Library of Illusions. [[Does anyone remember this?]] In ways like that, the current scenario already pointed towards elements from Heavensward. (Oda)

Since there are no people from Sharlayan left, the Gubra Library of Illusions is an unmanned facility. (Maehiro)

The stage event ended with closing remarks to viewers.

Regarding the story of FFXIV, there are many people and area and item names associated with various main quests and job quests, but it's a great pleasure to work on it. Thanks! (Koji Fox)

I was a little nervous about this talk, but I had fun. For those who've been playing since the original FFXIV, we kept you waiting around five years, but you'll finally get to go to Ishgard in June. Please enjoy it! (Oda)

You'll get to explore a lot of new field areas in Heavensward, I think it will be a lot of fun. (Maehiro)

There are multiple levels to Ishgard and when players first visit the city, they will enter through the Gates of Judgement and walk into the Foundation in Ishgard where the scars of war are deeply visible. It’s an area that hasn’t really been repaired.

This area is home to a great deal of lower class citizens, but there is also a building that houses the knights that Aymeric belongs to.

Past the market district, there is an area where the nobility live. This area has been well kept and it is quite beautiful. Additionally, there is a giant tower that has been placed in the center of the area, and the great cathedral of Ishgard is located here as well.

Adventurers that arrive to Ishgard will first walk around the city, and explore using the aetheryte network while grasping the current situation of the town.

Additionally, the guilds for the three new jobs will all reside inside Ishgard, therefore you’ll first have to come to Ishgard if you would like to become one of these new jobs.

Aetheric CurrentsPoints you need to discover through exploration and Main Scenario quests to fly in each zone.

Overworld MobsEnemies in the overworld will be much stronger than they were in ARR, taking on more than a single enemy of your level is not recommended.

In the chocobo forest there will be wild chocobo you can fight.

New Skills

Summoner

We’ll be making various adjustments to summoner which includes an action that simultaneously applies Bio, Bio II, and Miasma effects in exchange for Aetherflow, an attack that deals magic-based damage, and two other new actions at level 60 that will largely change your current rotations.

The ability Tri-Disaster has had its name changed to Tri-Bind since the effect didn’t make sense with the original name. In exchange, the aforementioned ability action that applies all three DoTs will be known as Tri-Disaster.

During development, we thought long and hard about this, but we will not be adding new egi at this time. Looking at the long-term, instead of adding more pets, we felt it better to give more use to the job by adding actions to summoner. However, I’m sure many are wondering if they will have to continue looking at the same egi forever, but we are planning to add a system in the future that will allow you to change the appearance of your egis, including Carbuncle, but their stats will remain the same.

New action: Dreadwyrm TranceConsidering rotations with an Aetherflow recast of 60 seconds, the first 30 seconds are spent casting DoTs, and the remaining 30 seconds is where this action comes into play.

Dreadwyrm Trance is an ability that summons the power of Bahamut. While under the effect of this ability, you’ll be able to gain stacks of Bahamut Aether, which you can then spend with an action.

AKH MORN, BITCHES

Black Mage

Ley LinesLey Lines is a stationary buff that you can place on the ground, and when the caster stands inside of it, they will gain a 15% haste bonus. Due to this, depending on how long you are able to stay inside of this circle, the damage capability will largely change. Though it’s still being adjusted, at the moment, when you step outside of it the circle will disappear. Because of this, it’s an ability where you will have to carefully consider the timing to use it and its placement.

SharpcastAfter using this ability, the next spell you cast will grant you a guaranteed proc. You’ll want to use this when you want to get a proc with Thunder or Fire. The timing of this ability will also be important.

EnochianAdditionally, there is one more new ability known as Enochian. When using this ability you’ll gain a 30 second buff, and only while under the effect of this buff you will be able to cast Fire IV and Blizzard IV.

Dragoon

New ability: Blood of the DragonThis is the main feature of the adjustments for dragoon. When using Blood of the Dragon, you’ll be able to use a fancy action after Full Thrust and Chaos Thrust making for a 4-stage combo.

Additionally, there is also a strong action that will consume Blood of the Dragon. With these adjustments, dragoons role as a DPS will really shine through. Furthermore, we’re also making adjustments to the animation locks for jumps.

Monk

The original concept for monk was to maintain Greased Lightning III, but instead of adding actions to aid in maintaining this effect, we added technical elements where you can utilize Greased Lightning and also made adjustments to eliminate the downtime during phases or mechanics of a boss where you can’t do anything.

We’ll be adding a system known as Chakra. You’ll be able to gain up to 5 stacks of Chakra, and once reaching the maximum amount you’ll be able to execute a high damage weapon skill. Additionally, you’ll be able to use Chakra to restore TP to yourself. Furthermore, there will be an ability that will allow you to change your form and a weapon skill that consumes Greased Lightning.

With all of these new elements, you’ll be able to spend your Greased Lightning right before a boss becomes invulnerable, progress through your forms while saving up Chakra until you can attack again, and then gain Greased Lightning again. With this, there will be no downtime.

Tanks

All tank stances will grant an accuracy buff.

Paladin

Paladin with have one or two new finishers coming off of Riot Blade, mainly build for off-tanking.

New action: Divine VeilSets a protective barrier around the target where if the target receive cures while under the effect, other nearby members will also receive a barrier effect.

New actions: ???There are other skills which will block enemy attacks. By using this, you’ll be able to utilize shield swipe more effectively.

Warrior

New Stance: DeliveranceThis is an attacking stance that can be used to increase your DPS when you are acting as an off-tank.

Similar to the Wrath you gain while using Defiance, you will gain up to a maximum of 5 stacks of Abadon when using Deliverance. When switching between these two stances, the stacks you have generated will be maintained, and you’ll be able to switch between Wrath and Abandon. The system was designed to allow for a more systematic approach to swapping between attacking and defending stances.

Additionally, there are weapon skills that consume Abandon, as well as self-healing abilities.

New Ability: Raw IntuitionThis is an ability that will guarantee a parry when receiving an attack from the front. However, when you are attacked from other angles, the attacks will deal critical damage. While there is somewhat of a risk, it’s a powerful ability when used properly.

HealersScholar and Astrologian will be receive the trait bonus to Protect

White MageWhite mage is designed as a pure healer job, so we introduced additional healing abilities and other abilities which they are currently lacking.

There are abilities, such as Asylum, that creates a healing field, and a skill that can be used to attack and heal at the same time called Assize.

Additionally, Benediction was the only healing ability which can heal instantly, so we will introduce another single target instant healing ability with a lowered effect.

Furthermore, we will introduce Stone III and Aero III which will be the main attack spells, as well as new ranged DoT spells.

Aside from additional components, white mage was the only job that could increase magic defense by using Protect; however, with the addition of a third healer job, we made it so other jobs will also can use the fully buffed effect of Protect as part of a balance adjustment.

ScholarInstead of just simply increasing a scholar's abilities, we made adjustments by adding actions that require you to really think about their use and the best time to utilize them. There are many actions which are useful during boss battles, so you may feel that it hasn’t changed much while running through instance dungeons.

New action: IndomitabilityA new AoE healing action will supplement scholar’s current AoE healing strength, which may have felt a bit weak up until now.

New action: Deployment TacticsThis action will extend the effect of Adloquium and Eye for an Eye that is on the target player to other party members in range.

New action: Emergency TacticsInstead of adding a barrier effect to Adloquium, this action will give addition healing power for the amount of the effect of the barrier.

New action: DissipationWith this action, you dismiss your fairy in exchange for magic power.

AstrologianThere are two stances, Diurnal Sect and Nocturnal Sect, which you can switch between. One of them is simply a healing stance much like white mage, while the other uses barriers much like scholar.

Depending on which stance you are in the effects of each ability and spell will largely vary, so first it would be best to get used to one stance and then try and master the next.

Additionally, you’ll be able to use actions such as the barrier created by Y’shtola in the main scenario and you can draw cards which will give various types of buffs.

Depending on the card that you randomly draw, you can gain effects such as enhanced attack power, haste, and also damage reduction. Furthermore, you can use the ability Royal Road to return the card you draw to your deck and enhance the next one you draw. There is also an ability to set aside a good card you drew and an ability known as Shuffle to redraw a card. It’s a really fun job where you will have to consider how to use your cards depending on the situation and the card you draw.